NASA Satellites Reveal Freshwater Decline in India

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NASA Satellites Reveal Freshwater Decline in India

India is among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater, according to a first-of-its-kind study using an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth. 

Scientists led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the US used data on human activities to map locations where freshwater is changing around the globe and why. 

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Representative image, Source: Pixabay

The study, published in the journal Nature, found that Earth's wet land areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water management, climate change and natural cycles. 

The study, published in the journal Nature, found that Earth's wet land areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water management, climate change and natural cycles. 

Areas in northern and eastern India, the Middle East, California and Australia are among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater that is already causing problems, 'The Guardian' reported. 

In northern India, groundwater extraction for irrigation of crops such as wheat and rice have caused a rapid decline in available water, despite rainfall being normal throughout the period studied, the report said. 

The team used 14 years of observations from the US/German-led Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft mission to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions around the world. 

Read full article: The Economic Times

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